


The Chains That Break You

by RiverRunningFree



Series: The Chains You Wear [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Badass Sokka (Avatar), Childhood Trauma, Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Fluff and Angst, Gay Zuko (Avatar), Hakoda (Avatar) is a Good Parent, Hallucinations, Heavy Angst, Hurt, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Minor Bato/Hakoda (Avatar), Night Terrors, Nightmares, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, Panic Attacks, Parental Hakoda (Avatar), Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Poison, Poisoning, Protective Sokka (Avatar), Protective Zuko (Avatar), Psychological Torture, Psychological Trauma, Psychological Warfare, Sleep Deprivation, Sleepy Cuddles, Sokka (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Sokka (Avatar)-centric, Torture, Touch-Starved, Touch-Starved Zuko (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar) Has Issues, Zuko (Avatar) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Zuko (Avatar) Needs Therapy, Zuko (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Zuko (Avatar)-centric, Zuko has nightmares, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:09:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26567104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiverRunningFree/pseuds/RiverRunningFree
Summary: Things don't go to plan during their stay at Boiling Rock Prison. The escape plan is delayed, and the Warden decides to act more severely on his grudge towards Zuko. After poisons, hallucinations, and torture, Sokka doesn't know how he'll get his friend out of this alive.
Relationships: Hakoda & Sokka (Avatar), Hakoda & Zuko (Avatar), Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: The Chains You Wear [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1956394
Comments: 96
Kudos: 974





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Possible TW for Panic attacks (not really, but just to be safe)

As a prison known for being infamous in its torture and cruelty, Boiling Rock was a lot less. . . dramatic than what Hakoda had been expecting.

Sure, the guards were assholes and had gotten pleasure out of giving the Chieftain some nice “welcoming” bruises on his way to his cell the first time. And yes, the Warden had the temper of a cobra-scorpion on a rainy day. But all things considered, the prison seemed fairly survivable. Not nearly as nightmare-inducing as he had originally feared.

It was not until his second night of imprisonment at the volcanic penitentiary, however, that he realized why this was case.

The four of them, Hakoda, Sokka, Suki, and some random firebender named Chit Sang, were seated at one of the back-corner tables of the cafeteria during dinner. Sokka was going over their new escape plan: starting a riot, kidnapping the warden, and booking it out of there. Fairly simple. The plan had already been delayed a few days because of an unannounced inspection that had put the guards on high-alert and made their plans seem like a good thing to wait on for a bit. But now the inspection had passed, and the plan could be implemented tomorrow.

Currently, they were all hunched closely together, looking extremely conspicuous, now that Hakoda thought about it, discussing the new timeline. It was not until about half-way through Sokka’s presentation that Hakoda realized what was off.

“And then five minutes before lunch break, Chit Sang is going to start up the rioting over in this area while I’ll-“

“Where’s Zuko?”

Sokka looks up, everyone stopping to glance around at the remembrance of their missing compatriot. “Oh, he told me the guards usually give him his meals in his cell. To cut down on conspiring with the other inmates I guess. I’ll catch him up after we’re done, don’t worry.”

“Is that really the excuse he gave you?” The three others looked over to Chit Sang at his snorted response.

“What do you mean?”

Chit Sang met Hakoda’s eyes with a grim line pressed into his mouth. “Why do you think it’s been so quiet around here lately? I know you’re new here, but you didn’t honestly think that _Boiling Rock Prison_ was normally this tepid, did you?” Hakoda swallowed hard as the inmate continued, “The guards are going easy on us because they have a special chew toy to occupy all their time. I mean, the _traitor Prince_? It doesn’t get much better than that.”

“What are they doing to him?”

Sokka’s voice was small, and a horrified look was slowly taking over his face. Hakoda could tell from the look in his son's eyes that he was genuinely worried for the prince. He didn't understand how Sokka could establish a friendship with someone who had hunted him for months, but then again, Hakoda _did_ understand that he was missing a lot of the story when it came to Zuko and his story. Hakoda shrugged off the thought.

“The Warden seems to have a personal vendetta against the kid.” Chit Sang looked away. “He’s had him under intense interrogation several times since you got here. I know for sure that the kid hasn't been given meals at all.” There was a hunch to his shoulders and a conflicted flicker in his eyes. Being a Fire Nation traitor himself, the guy was probably unsure of whether or not Zuko’s treatment was justified. Loyalty was a funny thing. Even after being locked up in a prison by his own nation, the firebender was still just that. A firebender.

Sokka scrubbed his hands against the back of his neck, “I should never have let him come here. This is my fault.”

A soft hand gentle hand grasped Sokka’s shoulder, “He knew this was a risk when he decided to come. You’re not responsible for this, Sokka.” Suki sighed as Sokka shrugged off her grip and looked away. She looked up at the rest of them, “This makes our escape plan even more vital and with less room for error. Precision is going to be our most helpful tool. Sokka-“ Suki ducked her head to catch his gaze, “-you’ll be in charge of getting Zuko out of his cell. . . and giving him whatever immediate medical assistance he may require.”

Hakoda swallowed hard. Zuko might be his previous enemy turned good, leaving a lot of tension in their relationship, but when it came down to it, the young Prince was in fact a _child_. The thought of any kid being abused and beaten in a place like this made his stomach turn.

Sokka’s voice wavered only slightly, “I’ll take care of him.”

-0-0-0-0-0-

Eshima shifted her feet, trying to relieve the pressure in her heels that only comes from standing in front of a door without moving for three hours.

“Seriously, how long did the Warden want them to lay into this kid?” The other guard standing across from her grumbled under his breath. Again. The large brute was incredibly whiny for a “tough guy”.

Eshima rolled her eyes, “Warden has a grudge. Something about his niece getting dumped, I don’t know.” She glanced over at the door and squinted, “He stopped screaming like five degrees ago, they should be almost done.”

Brute groaned and smacked his head back on the wall he was leaning against, “I just want to go get dinner already!”

Eshima started to mutter something about giving him his own tongue to snack on when the door finally opened with a loud whine of metal on metal. “ _Guards!”_ The two of them snapped to attention as the prison’s lead interrogator and three other guards came out of the dark room. Two of the guards were dragging a very pale and very unconscious Prince between them.

“Take this mud stain to his cell. No food or water.”

Eshima and Brute looked at each warily for a moment before grabbing the Prince’s arms and dragging him down the hall. It only took a few minutes for them to make the mistake of looking down at the body. Even after seeing years of bloody gore, the guards’ breathes still caught.

“What the hell. . .”

Prince Zuko’s face was a molten painting of black and blue bruises and bleeding red cuts. His arms were littered with burns and a couple of his fingernails were missing, leaving the fingertips almost black. His breath was wheezing from broken ribs and the probable water boarding that had occurred, based on the dripping wet hair that was plastered to his face.

But the thing the made the guards stare was the small trail of needle pin pricks trailing to the inside of his elbow. Brute looked up with wide eyes.

“They wouldn’t-“

They both glanced down again in disbelief, “-but, he’s- he’s just a kid!”

Eshima grit her teeth and looked away, “He’s a traitor, there are consequences. He was supposed to eventually lead us, and instead he betrayed us.” They came to a stop in front of the Prince’s cell, “And he is _not_ a kid.” The venom spat from her throat. “He’s the same age I was when I joined up. Besides. . .” They threw the Prince into the cell and slammed the door shut, locking it in finality, “. . .he’s a royal. Royal’s are _never_ children. They’re leaders starting the day they are _born_.”

Eshima turned on her heels and headed toward the mess hall, rubbing her temples as she walked away. They certainly didn’t get paid enough for this crap.

-0-0-0-0-0-

“Do you think I should check on him now or wait until its lights out?”

“I’m not sure. You don’t want to draw attention to yourself, but at the same time. . .”

“Yeah, I know. He’s my friend, so I need to make sure he’s okay.”

"Exactly."

Hakoda felt a smile tug lightly at his lips as he glanced down at his son. He was so proud of the young man that Sokka had become. Hakoda has always known that his son had a large heart and a tendency for protecting others. He remembered when Kya had twisted her ankle one time and little five-year-old Sokka had been determined to ‘take care’ of her. He'd spent the entire next week sneaking into the village’s meat storage to get his mother the ‘absolutely bestest’ pieces of seal jerky in order for her to heal properly. Of course, the elders had been mad at him, but Hakoda had secretly been a little proud of his tiny seal-jerky thief.

He shook his head slightly and looked back over at Sokka. Now his son was growing into a fine leader and still just as protective as ever. He smiled again and clapped Sokka on the shoulder as they continued walking down the hall, making sure no one else could see first.

“I trust your judgement, son.”

Sokka grinned shyly and nodded. “Thanks Dad.”

Before Hakoda could respond, however, he noticed two guards coming around the corner, most likely from just finishing a late dinner in the mess hall. Hakoda and Sokka quickly went back into “escorting prisoner” mode, and pointedly didn’t make eye-contact as they passed the man and woman coming towards them.

As they got closer to each other, Sokka started to make out what the two were discussing. His felt his lungs freeze.

“I still don’t understand why they would do that to a kid.”

“Will you _shut up_. I already told you, he’s not a kid. He’s a traitor prince.”

“That doesn’t mean that he deserves to be injected with poisonous hallucinogens!” The large man snapped worriedly at the woman walking beside him. She scowled at him in response and then pointedly looked away as he continued.

“Come on, you know what that stuff does to people! I mean, roughing him up is one thing. A little bit of torture stuff? Fine. But Dokushin is an erratic and unstable poison! The hallucinations could totally mess with his mind, causing permanent damage, and if the Warden isn’t careful he could end up killing him!”

The woman rounded on him and snarled, “Why do you even care?! The Warden obviously doesn’t value any information that he may know, and the Fire Lord doesn’t care if his son is sent back dead or alive!” She smacked the back of his helmet and continued walking, “Just keep your damn nose clean and stop worrying about someone who wouldn’t give two shits about you. Or _you’ll_ be the next one they inject with Dokushin.”

Sokka and Hakoda remained quiet until the two guards passed and had gone down another corridor. As soon as they were out of sight though, Sokka whipped over to look at his father whose eyes were nearly as wide with shock as Sokka’s.

“I need to see Zuko.”

Sokka bolted down the hall in a different direction before Hakoda could even respond. The older man swallowed worriedly and rubbed the sides of his head as fear for the Fire Prince took hold. Dokushin was. . .well, "terrifying" would be an understatement. This was not good.

This was very not good.

-0-0-0-0-0-

_“You will learn respect.”_

_Fire scorched through his face. Melting the skin into his skull. The smell of burnt flesh and hair choked into his throat like a black cobra-viper and tightened, tightened. . . tightened._

_“And suffering will be your teacher.”_

_He couldn’t breathe. The screams ripped so violently from his lungs that no air could hope to reenter. Azula, his cherished baby sister, was laughing and clapping in the background. Unlce Iroh’s horror as silent as the dead but just as loud as he did nothing but look away._

_Then suddenly, the fire was not just on his face, it was going down his shoulders, down his chest. It burned through his legs and his arms. It scorched out both his eyes, yet he could still see. He saw his father’s own eyes turn red, then his teeth turned to fangs, and black wings erupted from his back. His father morphed into a black dragon, blood dripping between his teeth. Zuko’s blood._

_The dragon screamed fire in large, sweeping arches. The arena flooded with flames and lightning, and the people on the side-lines were melted into nothing but charred skeletons. Zuko saw his uncle scream and cry as his body began to burn, he saw Iroh crying to Zuko for help, beginning for help._

_The fear gripped a fist around Zuko’s heart and squeezed and pulled. Then it was his father’s fist in his chest and his father’s fingers that tightened before ripping Zuko’s heart out of his body._

_He watched in horror as his own heart melted into blue fire in front of his burnt face._

_“And you will never be rid of me.”_

Zuko’s eyes snapped open.

He flailed his arms and scrambled backwards until his back hit a wall. _Trapped._ He was trapped. And his face was on fire and his legs were charcoaled crisps and his heart was melting and there was blood _everywhere_. In his hair, in his eyes, surrounding Uncle's dead body, and-

-and he couldn’t _breathe._

There was smoke in his lungs and no air could get in and the screaming was so loud. Why was it so loud? And his heart was pounding in his ears, but his heart had been ripped out and melted so why was it pounding-

“Zuko-“  
Tears stung his eyes and his Uncle was silent. But his uncle’s silence had been deafening and _why_ had he just watched! Why did he not stop the burning and the fire and the screaming. It was so loud-

“-ko, pleas-“

“-eathe. You have to-“

The screams were getting quieter, but now a new voice was getting louder. But it was soft. Father’s voice wasn’t soft. But everything still felt like fire and he couldn’t-

“Zuko. I need you to breathe. It’s okay. You’re okay. Please stop screaming Zuko. I don’t know what to do. . .”

His breath hitched and the burning started to fade.

“. . .S-Sokka?”

“Thank Tui and La.”

Zuko felt himself be gathered up in a pair of strong arms. Sokka’s arms. And the soft touch seemed like cool water on the charred and burning flames that climbed up his back. His vision was slowly clearing, and the Agni Kai arena seemed to fade into a prison cell. He didn’t understand what was going on.

His father’s laugh still ran louder and louder in ears and his lungs started seizing again and-

“Zuko. I need you to stay with me.” The arms gripped him more firmly. More safely. “Focus on the sound of my voice, okay? Focus on my voice. You’re okay. You’re just hallucinating. It’s not real.”

Not. . .real?

But it _was_ real. Some of it was real. . .

What parts were real?

It took several more minutes of gasping and hallucinated burning before Zuko could figure out what was real, what was a memory, and what was entirely made up.

Sokka didn’t move the whole time, simply holding the other boy carefully and murmuring reassurances in his ear. The Water Tribe boy was utterly terrified, still in shock from find his friend screaming and writhing on the floor when he had walked in. He had even heard his yells from far down the corridor as Sokka had gotten closer to the cell. Now though, Zuko’s body was still shaking and tremors were wracking through his body, his voice just a quiet keening sound in the empty cell.

“Zuko? Are you with me now, dude?”

“Y-Yes.”

Sokka decided to ignore the crack in Zuko’s response and moved to sit back on his heels, putting himself directly in front of Zuko. The poor prince was clearly still disoriented and Sokka wasn’t a hundred percent sure that he wasn’t still hallucinating.

Zuko forced his breathing to slow.

“It wasn’t real.”

“No, it wasn’t. You were hallucinating.”

Zuko’s eyes went wide in fear. “Why was I hallucinating? Am I sick?”

Sokka awkwardly patted his knee, not at all sure if the gesture was reassuring. “The Warden had you poisoned. Don’t worry you’re not going insane or anything. . .” Sokka added trying to lighten the mood. But the joke fell flat as Zuko’s breathing hitched. “Look, don’t worry, okay? We’re breaking out tomorrow and I will get you as far away from here as possible. I promise.”

Zuko licked his lips and glanced around the room nervously. Sokka watched in concern as the boy’s wandering eyes suddenly froze on the far corner of the room. Sokka looked over his shoulder but saw nothing there. Then he noticed Zuko’s back stiffen as his voice came out very low and controlled, eyes still frozen. “Sokka? Is this poison going to kill me?”

“Course not.” Sokka responded carefully, trying to sound light, and he swallowed down the possible lie. The truth was that Sokka had never felt so helpless. He had had his escape plan laid out perfectly, everyone had been ready to go, everything had been in order. But now, watching Zuko’s eyes begin to glaze over again as the dark visions no doubt were taking hold once more, Sokka knew nothing was certain.

“Zuko, I need you to stay with me buddy. I’ll find a med kit or something, we’ll clean up these cuts. It’s going to be alrigh-“

“NOOO!”

_Zuko watched as his father stepped out of the shadows that he had been hiding in, Ursa being pulled behind him as she struggled against his grip. She yelled at him and tried to fight back, but Ozai merely forced her to stand in front of Zuko, her eyes baring down on him in terror._

_“My son, please, don’t let him do this! You have to stop him! Zuko ple-“_

_Ozai snapped her neck._

_“NOOO!”_

_Zuko sprung forward to catch his mother’s body as it hit the floor. Her head rolled and her lifeless eyes stared up at him. He could feel the heavy weight in his arms, but her heart wasn’t beating. Why wasn’t her heart beating?!_

_She was dead. She was dead because of him. Why hadn’t he saved her?! Why couldn’t he be strong enough?!_

_His father threw his head back and laughed at his pathetic son and his dead wife. The dark sound enveloped Zuko’s ears and beat against his skull as he continued to stare into his mother’s dead eyes. Laughing and laughing. His father wouldn’t stop laughing._

Zuko screamed.

And Sokka watched in horror as the other young man’s eyes began to bleed and his body began to seize.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all liked it! There will be at least one more chapter of this if you guys want it. (I honestly can't tell what you all will think about this fic, so please let me know if you want me to continue.) 
> 
> Please let me know what you thought (Whether that's criticisms, compliments, or advice) in the comments below! I thrive off of everyone's feedback :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so. . .I know I said two chapters for this fic, but now you're getting three! Yay! FYI this one is a little gory and extremely angsty. TW for child abuse and intense themes.  
> (Nothing explicit, it's just dark) Have fun and good luck!

“I overheard the guards say that the Warden took Zuko in for another ‘session’ again last night. They’re saying the added poison injections are making him worse.”

“Damnit!”

Sokka’s pacing picked up speed as his worry increased, making his father’s cell feel smaller and smaller by the minute. He should have stayed the night with Zuko, he _knew_ he shouldn’t have left. Sure, he’d been forced to slip out unnoticed when a guard came to check on Zuko. And yes, they’d put two guards posted on his door all night, making it virtually impossible for Sokka to sneak in. But damnit, he should have done _something. Anything._

Zuko had completely freaked out on him last night, to the point where the dude had ended up on the floor having a grand mal seizure while _blood dripped from his eyes._ That was not okay. That was very very not okay. That was so far from okay that the rays of Agni could reach it during a summer solstice. It was-

“Son. I need you to stop pacing for a moment and just settle for me, please.”

Sokka groaned and plopped to the ground, avoiding his father’s eyes. “I should have done more to help him.” Covering his face in his hands, he let out a shaky breath and his voice came out very small, “How could he be even _worse_ now?”

There was a moment of silence between the two of them, weighing heavy and somber. Hakoda shifted to sit close beside Sokka on the floor, lifting his arm over the boy’s shoulders and pulling him in slightly. Sokka’s body melted towards him, unconsciously seeking out the warm comfort of his father. Hakoda shut his eyes tightly and prayed to Tui and La for guidance on what to say.

He let out a deep breath and pulled Sokka closer.

“I cannot promise you that everything will turn out alright.” His son looked up at him with despairing and wet eyes, “Sometimes we can make all the plans in the universe, but we still can’t make it all work out the way we hoped. I cannot tell you that we will all get out through this escape alive or unharmed. But I can tell you this: we each have the best chance of success possible because of you and your leadership.”

“What if, even if we manage to escape, what if Zuko can’t recover?”

“I-“ Hakoda paused for a moment, considering the phrasing of his words, “I cannot presume to know the Prince as well as you, in fact I barely know him at all, and what I have heard of him in the past would have never convinced me to be his ally. But I trust your judgement of him above my own perceptions. And from what _you_ have told me, he is a fighter. He has an amazing amount of perseverance, even when the odds are against him in every way. You _know_ that. So, hold onto that single truth as a foundation for when everything else is in uncertainty today.”

Sokka glanced down and fidgeted with his fingers silently for a moment before finally nodding. When he looked back up to meet Hakoda’s gaze, his eyes were lined with warmth. “Thank you, Dad.”

Hakoda smiled and pulled Sokka in for a tight embrace, “Love you, son. I’m very proud of the man you’ve become.”

“I love you too.”

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

_“Worthless. Spineless. A disgrace of a son! A scrap of mud is more worthy an heir than you!”_

Zuko’s hands trembled as he covered his ears, body shaking hard on its side as the voice yelled again and again. Over. He just wanted it to be over.

“ _Azula was the firebending prodigy worthy of being a royal. But you, you’re a pitiful excuse for a firebender! You can barely make smoke! I wish I had killed you the day you were born and saved our family the dishonor of your mere existence!”_

“Father- please-“

_Ozai called lightning to his hands, the throne room crackling with its unstable energy. The blue light cast haunting shadows across his father’s face, illuminating the dark void hollows of where his golden eyes used to be. The high ceilings began to shake and crumble under his draw of power._

_“Today I will rectify that mistake.”_

“PLEASE! STOP-”

_The harnessed storm of electricity surged from his fingertips and shot across the room, striking left of Zuko’s sternum, straight into his heart. Zuko’s screams wrenched from his chest as his body began spasming and seizing. The pain was everywhere. The lightning was everywhere. Every nerve, every muscle shrieked at his brain in utter agony as he writhed on the floor._

_His father merely stood above him and laughed before sending another surge of lightning straight toward his son’s golden eyes._

-0-0-0-0-0-

“AGHHHH!”

Suki and Chit Sang’s heads snapped up from their chores at the sound of the blood-curling scream. Suki’s hands tightened around the handle of her mop until her knuckles turned white, soft whimpers reaching her ears next. She knew exactly who that was, and it made her stomach turn in her gut.

“NOOOOOO!”

The prisoners around them started glancing at each other in wariness, the screams were so full of agony that it was making their skin crawl. A bulky man standing near to Suki looked over at the far side of the open space and his face grew taut.

“What the hell. . .”

The whole prison yard caught sight of the source of the morning’s interrupt as two grim-faced guards dragged the translucent, battered, and writhing body of Prince Zuko into the middle of the large area. His eyes were fevered and wild, clearly too far gone to be even remotely lucid. The guards seemed almost reluctant as they chained the prince to a tall, metal whipping post, hoisting him so far up by the cuffs on his wrists that his feet barely touched the ground.

Hundreds of prisoners watched in complete silence as they took in the blood dripping from his eyes, the half-crazed shrieks coming from his lungs, and the full-body tremors that twisted and tightened his limbs in a constant pantomime of being electrocuted. His clothes were shredded, his hair was wild and stood on end in the places it wasn’t plastered to his face in fevered sweat and blood. The prince looked like a young man driven mad by methods too terrible to comprehend.

Suki felt her hands shake, barely even registering a stunned Sokka and Hakoda coming to stand next to her in a daze. The air was thick and suffocating with horror as everyone simply looked on and listened to the sounds of the Warden’s cruelty and the Prince’s tragedy.

“Zuko. . .”

Sokka’s voice cracked.

A hush fell over the group of prisoners as the Warden entered, stopping right next to the tortured young man, not at all fazed by the sounds of agony coming from him.

“This man is traitor!” The Warden’s voice boomed across the prison yard like thunder on dark mountain. “He has betrayed his people! He has forsaken his birthright! This-“ The Warden gestured toward the prince’s thrashing state, “-is what happens when you go up against the Fire Nation! This is what will happened to _you_ if you disobey me!”

The Warden stepped forward, lifting his chin in dominance, “Any man who stands against the Fire Nation-“ or his niece “-will meet a fate as worse as this! So, the next time you degenerates even _considers_ going against my rules, remember this boy.” The Warden gave them one more glare before turning to walk away, leaving behind a morbid silence as the prisoners watched their prince.

Sokka couldn’t look away, staring wide-eyed as he watched his. . .friend. . .being mentally mutilated right in front of him. He couldn’t fully comprehend the sight of what was happening, but he knew that it would be the fuel for many nightmares in his future.

_All the people of the firenation surrounded him now. Thousands and thousands, the crowds spreading wide and reaching far off into the distance in every direction he looked. And they were shouting at him, yelling and cursing. They were throwing stones and shooting bursts of fire. Dozens of stones striking against his body, breaking his bones and cracking his body into splinters of a fading life._

_They hated him. His own people. They wanted him dead and destroyed, they cursed his very existence and yelled for him to burn. He could hear their voices ringing like funeral gongs in his mind._

_“Down with the traitor!”_

_“Burn him to the ashes he deserves!”_

_“Break his body! Break his mind!”_

_“Wretched!” “Poison!” “EVIL!”_

The prisoners watched on in utter silence as the banished prince, chained and tortured, screamed out apologies for his supposed transgressions.

“I’M SORRY! FORGIVE ME-“ his voice choked off is strangle wheeze of breath, “-WAS PROTECTING YOU!-“

The guards, and even the prisoners who were Fire Nation, began shifting their feet as the unease grew in their spirits and they started glancing around at each other in uncertainty as the prince’s eyes, as glazed as they were, made eye-contact with each of them. His wrecked voice rasped out one weak sentence.

“All I w-wanted was to save my people. . .pro. . .protect my people. . .I’m sorry. . .”

They stared in horror at the boy, the _boy_ , who was being physically and psychologically tortured in front of their very eyes. Many of the Fire Nation prisoners and guards had been through hell, had been told to hate the traitor prince. But seeing him now, see him like this. . . it made the propaganda seem quieter and less certain. The boy had gone through so much, anyone looking into his eyes could see the tell-tale signs of trauma, and they saw him now looking so. . .so human. It was hard to hate him like they should. It was hard to not respect him as he cried out for the protection of his people.

Perhaps the world was a little more messy than any of them had thought. . .

Suddenly, the silence finally snapped as the Prince’s eyes rolled back into his head and he began to seize.

Chaos was unleashed as the prisoners suddenly began yelling at the Warden, shouting at the injustice of his treatment. Their guilt towards the prince fueled their rage towards the guards and many voices started yelling out “RIOT!” above the clamor of noise.

Zuko’s two guards looked at each other and nodded before slipping away back inside and leaving the prince unguarded. They were too human for condoning this much cruelty. Everyone has a line.

Suki immediately started running towards the Warden, flipping over prisoners’ heads and sliding between legs as she closed in on her target. It was time for their plan to take action, now or never. Her eyes narrowed in on the Warden’s three bodyguards that were trying to escort him safely out of the riot area. She would take them out easily.

On the other side of the prison yard, Sokka was dazedly weaving through the hoard of fire and fists, eyes never leaving Zuko as he made his way closer to him. Zuko was still in the thralls of his latest seizure, his body jerking and spasming against the chains that he hung from. The strain on his shoulders would have been excruciating, had he been conscious. But as it was, his eyes stayed sealed tight, and Sokka could make out the pinched lines of pain in his face as he got closer.

The prisoners paid Sokka no mind as he ducked under a rouge fire blast and dodged a stray fist. He barely had the presence of mind to be aware of his surroundings, but it seemed to be enough when he finally made it to Zuko.

Ignoring the mayhem that crashed and thrived in chaos around them, Sokka carefully and methodically unlocked Zuko’s chains. He quietly laid the boy on his side, pillowing his thrashing head in his lap to avoid adding a concussion to his list of afflictions.

Had Sokka looked to his left, he would have just made out his father in the crowd. Hakoda had caught sight of Sokka and Zuko and had paused in his fight against the guards to watch his son carefully attend to the Prince. Delicately maneuvering the shaking boy as if he were a fragile piece of glass, and the most treasured thing in the world. Maybe to Sokka he was. Hakoda smiled softly and turned back to his fight, slamming a fist into a guards nose.

“It’s going to be okay Zuko.” Sokka whispered softly in Zuko’s ear as the boy’s body finally went limp. “You can endure anything. You can survive.” Without even noticing his own actions, Sokka gently brushed his fingers through Zuko’s hair. “I’ll look out for you. I promise.”

“SOKKA!”

Suki’s yell seemed to snap Sokka back into awareness. He looked over to see Suki passing a bound and gagged Warden into Chit Sang’s firm hands a few meters away. “Sokka come on! We have to go!” She waved for him to follow them as she darted towards the gondolas. Right. The plan. Chit Sang ran after her immediately, but Hakoda paused and started heading towards Sokka instead.

“Do you need help carrying him, son?”

Sokka squared his shoulders, “No. I’ve got him.” Sokka scooped up a much too light Zuko into his arms in a bridal carry. Sokka and Hakoda darted towards the waiting gondola, Hakoda covering Sokka’s back as they ran. They weaved through the fighting hoard and safely jumped onto the gondola, Hakoda slamming the door behind them as they took off.

Suki nodded to them, doing a mental head count, before her eyes dropped down to Zuko, still unconscious in Sokka’s firm grip. “How is he?”

Swallowing thickly Sokka held Zuko tighter, “I don’t know.”

Hakoda laid a careful hand on Sokka’s shoulder, as though he was afraid that his son would crack under his hand, “I’m sure Katara will be able to do something to help.”

Sokka nodded quietly, looking down at the silent boy in his arms.

Below them, the riot was still in full force. The prisoners were putting up their best fight, and now without the Warden there to take control of the situation, the guards to seemed to be losing the fight. Some had even begun to lay down their weapons in surrender.

But out of all of them, neither the prisoners nor the guards came after the gondola. It would seem as though the prince’s display on the post had resonated deeper with them than they’d like to admit.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Several hours later, the small group was halfway back to the temple in a stolen airship. Chit Sang was monitoring the fire, Suki was charting navigation, and Hakoda was searching the airship for possible supplies they could salvage and first aid items they could use for Zuko.

Meanwhile, Sokka was sitting with his back against the bow of the airship with Zuko sitting between his legs and leaning back against his chest.

Zuko had had two more “episodes” in the past few hours of flying, and after hearing some of the words Zuko had been screaming, Sokka was more than ready to kill the Firelord himself. How could a father instill so much fear into their own son? It was- it was messed up! It was so far beyond cruelty that Sokka didn’t even have the proper words to describe it.

When Zuko had first started begging for his father’s forgiveness, Sokka had thrown up over the side of the rail.

It was abominable. The man was not only a tyrannical ruler but an abusive, sick, psychopath of a father as well. Sure, Zuko was just seeing hallucinations, but those hallucinations had to have come from somewhere and Sokka was sure that more than half of what Zuko was seeing were actually memories.

“. . .S-Sokka. . .?”

Sokka’s eyes widened and he glanced down to see two beautiful golden eyes looking up at him.

“Zuko! You’re awake!”

The Water Tribe boy pulled Zuko into a tight hug, not releasing until the other boy managed to grunt out a few words.

“Sokka. C-Can’t breathe.”

“Oh!”

Sokka immediately loosened his grip, carefully helping Zuko to move to sit beside him instead of in his lap. Zuko’s cheeks were still flushed with a dangerous fever and his hands still held slight tremors, but his eyes were more lucid and there was a gentle quirk of amusement in his lips.

“Do you often enjoy holding firebenders in your lap? Or am I just special like that?”

Sokka blushed and ducked his head, “Was just trying to make sure you were okay. . .” he mumbled nervously.

Zuko quirked a disbelieving eyebrow, “Hmm. Really.”

Then, as if to prove Sokka’s point, a harsh cough then tore from Zuko’s chest. Sokka quickly reached out to help stabilize the boy through the racking coughs, his concern quickly growing at the sight of blood staining his lips. The coughing didn’t last more than a few seconds, but it was quickly followed by a full-body tremor as he leaned his head back against the wall when a wave of exhaustion hit him. Sokka squinted at him.

The guy really was a mess and the poison was still clearly wreaking havoc on his system. The firebender’s face was pale and gaunt, his cheekbones cutting far too sharply against the skin for Sokka’s liking. There was a thick layer of sweat over his face and collarbones, hands cold and clammy. Then there was the vast assortments of bruising and lacerations that screamed for attention as they peaked out beneath the edges of his clothes. The burn marks had the beginning signs of infection, while the sight of several missing fingernails made Sokka want to lose his lunch. Again.

Oh. Lunch. Right.

“Uh, Zuko. Buddy. Pal. . .”

There was that look again, with the amused grin and the raised eyebrow. Maybe it was the poison that was making Zuko so borderline flirty. . .

“Yeah. . . _pal_?”

Just hearing the rasp in Zuko’s voice made Sokka want to clear his own throat.

“I just. . .wanted to know if you wanted some food?” Tui and La, when was the last time the other boy had even had a decent meal? Since before they had arrived at the prison, that was for sure. Poor guy must be starving. “And you should probably try and drink a lot of water. You’re probably severely dehydrated, now that I think of it. . .” Why hadn’t he thought of that before??

“Food and water would be amazing. . .oh Great Physician Sokka.” Zuko coughed out a hoarse laugh as his head lolled slightly. He smirked almost dazedly at Sokka’s stammered attempt at replying before he rasped, “Go on ice boy, I’m sure I’ll enjoy _whatever_ you give to me.”

Sokka choked and quickly scampered below deck to the kitchen, mumbling something about being right back, the sound Zuko’s hoarse chuckling following behind him.

The Water Tribe boy quickly snuck into the kitchen galley, greeting his father with a nod before ducking his head to hide the blush that was still there. Hakoda smiled over at his son from the pile of supplies that he was inventorying.

“How’re you doing, Sokka?”

Sokka hid his face in a nearby cupboard, “Good. Uh, yup. I’m good.”

“Did you manage to get some sleep?”

“Mhm.” Sokka cleared his throat awkwardly and grabbed a random peach-apple, “Uh, Zuko just woke up, so uh, I’m going to bring him some- something to eat.” He gestured to the fruit haplessly, before turning back towards the exit.

Hakoda stood up slowly, “I’m glad to hear that he’s awake. . .Sokka?”

The young man froze in the doorway, looking back over his shoulder, “Uh, yeah Dad?”

“I’ve been thinking. . .after everything that. . .happened back at the prison,” Sokka swallowed and looked away. “After all of that, I think I should try and get to know Zuko and who he is now. I’m tired of feeling this automatic hatred towards anyone who has Firenation blood in their veins. It’s time to start changing people’s mindset. Do you mind if I come check on him with you?”

Sokka felt his whole face light up, “I would love that, Dad. Thanks.”

Hakoda nodded happily before moving to Sokka’s side as they walked out of the room together, “Now of course, I’ve also seen how _close_ the two of you are-”

“DAD!”

Hakoda raised his hands in surrender, a deep chuckle rumbling his chest at the sight of his son’s red face, “I’m just saying. I _am_ your father after all so I think it’s only right I get to know this young man since you two-“

“NOPE!” Sokka covered his ears and raced towards up the steps to the deck. Hakoda just laughed as he continued up the steps after him.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Sokka resolutely ignored his father’s laughter as he approached Zuko. He was never going to live this down. It wasn’t like he _liked_ Zuko. And even if he did, or had for a while, or whatever, that didn’t mean that _right now_ was a good time to address it! There was a proper order to these things that after all.

“Hey, uh, Zuko. I brought you this Peach-apple from the kitchen.” Sokka rubbed the dirt off the fruit carefully as he got closer, “It’s a little bit worse for wear, but well, they taste good! . . . I think. Actually, I haven’t had one of these before, but they look really tasty. And they’re really juicy so that’ll help a little with the dehydration problem and I know that-“

“Sokka.”

“Hmm?” Sokka turned to look at his dad, who was now standing very still beside him. Why was his face so serious? Sokka followed Hakoda’s intense stare over to Zuko.

Oh.

Oh no.

_Zuko struggled uselessly against his father’s iron grip on his wrists._

_“LET ME GO! PLEASE STOP! FATHER STOP!”_

_Ozai just laughed as he continued to drag Zuko up the volcano. Zuko watched helplessly as the volcano erupted around them, spewing rock and lava for miles in every direction._

_Below them was Caldera, full of screaming people that were panicking at the rivers of lava flowing towards the city. It flooded into the streets, it burned down homes, and Zuko watched helplessly as the people, his people, burned alive in the lava._

_“We have to help them! They’re dying!”_

_Ozai whirled on him, eyes alight with malice. “They’re dying because of you! Because of your weakness! Stop being a disgrace and face your punishment!”_

_Suddenly he was falling, falling and falling into the mouth of the volcano. He screamed at the lava came closer and closer until finally he was submerged into it._

_The lava scorched into his skin and ate away at his body until the white of his bones were showing and his face had melted into his skull._

_The pain was. . .was. . ._

_Zuko shrieked._

Sokka dove straight for the other boy, gathering the thrashing body up in his arms in an attempt to calm him down. His eyes were completely glazed over, any lucidity from before was stripped away completely now. Hakoda came to crouch beside them, his eyes wide and unsure of what to do.

Father and son watched in horror as Zuko’s breathing became more laborious and shallow. The boy had a roaring rattle in his chest that seemed to be keeping all air from entering his body. His teeth chattered and his fogged eyes were rolling.

There was a bloody froth spilling from his mouth as he started making horrible choking sounds. His back was rigid and strong tremors ripped through his near-convulsing body.

But when the screaming started, Sokka had to will himself not to run away and hide. It was blood-curling, strangled screams that kept choking off into bouts of bloody hacking. It was clear that Zuko was seeing terrible, terrible things right now and Sokka felt tears start to slip down his face at the overwhelming feeling of helplessness.

“No, no, no. Tui and La, please not again. Zuko, you were supposed to be getting better!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 is done! One more chapter to go! If you guys can't tell, I have a love for Hakoda and Ozai parallels as fathers. Oh the angstttt!
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed it, please let me know what you thought in the comments below. I love getting feedback from you guys!  
> (Also, I have decided that Zuko is one of those people that gets really flirty when they're sick or loopy. I just thought that was important to add)
> 
> P.S. I got actually kind of really overwhelmed with how angsty this was getting when I was writing it and decided to take a day and write a tiny fluff fic to take a break from the angst. So if you're like me and need a breath of fresh air after all that torture I put up my fic "In The Morning's Silence" for you guys to enjoy. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26685433


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-Daaa! Last Chapter!

_“Silence! When will you learn that your only place is on a funeral pyre!”_

_“Come on, Zuzu, try harder! Do you want Father to burn off the other half of your face?”_

_“You’re just a little whelp! How dare you disrespect your commanding officer!”_

_“Nephew, you abandoned me. You betrayed me and then came to see me in jail just to scream in my face. I thought you actually had a heart underneath all that hate. I was wrong”_

_“Useless Prince.”_

_“Abandoning your people!”_

_“Disgrace!”_

_“Dishonored!”_

_“Weak!”_

_“Pathetic!”_

_“Zuko. How could you turn into something so evil?”_

_He gasped. His eyes shot open and he scrambled to his feet, eyes darting back and forth around the utter darkness that he was shadowed in. His breathing rasped and his eyes began flooding with tears. He barely dared to speak the name of that last voice. “M-Mother?”_

_“Zuko, I left everything to keep you safe.”_

_Tears began flooding down his cheeks. The other voices slowly started to fade to a dull hum in the distance. “Mother, are-are you mad at me too?” He looked over his shoulder at the sound of footsteps. He watched frozen as his mother stepped out of the suffocating, inky blackness, and into the single streak of light illuminated her soft face._

_“My darling boy. . .” She opened her arms wide and he ran to her, flinging his body into her embrace. Grasping onto her clothes like a lifeline. “My sweet, little Zuko. . .” He burrowed his face into her shoulder._

_“I missed you so much.” He clung to her tighter, breathing in the scent of her clothes. Taking in the sight of her caring face. He loved her so much, his heart fell full to burst._

_“. . . you’ve disappointed me.”_

_Zuko reared back as though he’d been slapped._

_“How could you do this to me, Zuko?”_

_His eyes widened and he stared at his mother’s stoic face. This wasn’t right. She would never- she wouldn’t- “W-What?” He felt something crack in his chest. Painful and pulling. It hurt like a canyon splitting through his heart. His mother just looked sad. She wasn’t angry or yelling as the others had. Just withdrawn. Withdrawing from him._

_It hurt so much worse._

_“I had hoped that you would grow up to be a great man someday, but. . .” Ursa took a step away from him, drawing back towards the darkness. “. . .you’ve abandoned you’re people-“_

_“No, I-“_

_“-you’re forsaking your nation to join the enemy-“_

_“Mother, please, let me explain-“_

_“-you left your sister alone-“_

_“I-“_

_“-you turned your back on the people who cared for you. You turned your back on me.”_

_Zuko felt the tears slide down his cheeks, saw his vision begin to water. “Mom. . .I- I thought you’d be proud of my decision. . .joining the avatar. . .” He looked up at her and felt bare, open, and raw. Her face remained heavy with disappointment. The love from his childhood stripped away. “. . . I thought. . .you’d be proud of me.”_

_Her arm raised slowly, and her hand moved towards his face, gentle and soft as she carefully caressed his unscarred cheek. He closed his eyes, more tears falling down, as he leaned into her touch. A mother’s touch._

_“No, Zuko. I am not proud of you at all.”_

_She lowered her hand and walked back into the darkness, ignoring the cries of her broken child._

_-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-_

“You know, the first time I heard about you was at an alehouse in an Earth Kingdom port about three years ago."

Hakoda stretched out his legs to regain some feeling, "Some Earth Kingdom soldiers were going off about this crazy story and the horrors of the Fire Lord’s cruelty. They said that he challenged his son to a duel, an Agni Kai I think it's called, and when the boy refused to fight, he burned off half the child’s face. . . I just scoffed and said it was Earth Kingdom propaganda. Because no father could be that cruel. It wasn’t possible. . .”

Hakoda sighed and looked down at the unresponsive boy laying in front of him.

“I was wrong.”

Carefully, with as gentle a touch as a hardened Southern Water Tribe Chieftain can manage, Hakoda dipped his rag in the water bucket nearby and started wiping Zuko’s face again.

“They also said that your mother had left you years before that,” He quietly wiped away the tear tracks that covered Zuko’s cheeks, “that in itself is more than a child should ever bear.”

The only response from the prone figure was a hoarse moan as more salty tears slid from his closed eyes.

Hakoda watched in concern as the boy curled in on himself and shuddered weakly. The man knew that Zuko’s energy had to be completely exhausted by this point. In addition to the effects of the poison, not eating anything for several days was definitely not going to help matters. Yes, Sokka had managed to get a few splashes of water into him last night, but it was nowhere near enough, so dehydration was also a problem.

Hakoda rubbed at the teenager’s bony back in an effort to soothe his restlessness. It almost reminded him of the time that Katara had gotten the stomach flu when she was eight and Hakoda had to stay up all night holding the bucket for her. He remembered tying her hair back for her to keep it out of her face. How she had smiled up at him through her fevered eyes and said he was the best dad in the world because he made the most beautiful braids. He remembered rubbing her back and whispering soft encouragement to her little ears as she was sick in the bucket.

But that had been years ago. Now instead of helping a sweet, chubby little girl, he was sitting across from a war-torn teenage prince who was all sharp edges and prominent ribs. The young man looked as though he was still recovering from some severe emaciation that must have happened in his recent past. Not for the first time, Hakoda wondered exactly what traumas this boy had been through in his short life.

“Hey Dad, how’s he doing?”

Hakoda looked up as his son approached them, smiling sadly before shaking his head at Sokka’s hopeful look, “The same.”

Sokka chewed his lip and nodded somberly. He sat beside Zuko as Hakoda shifted over to make room, Sokka moving the boy’s head to lay in his lap.

He hummed quietly as he threaded his fingers through Zuko’s sweaty hair, watching him closely. “He’s a lot quieter than he was before,” Sokka whispered out. He looked over to his father with worry, “That’s not good, is it?”

“No. It’s not.” Hakoda responded, keeping his eyes on the prince, “It means he’s getting weaker. It’s harder for him to fight back against the poison. I think the effects are taking their toll.”

“And he’s still in a lot of pain?”

“Yes.”

Sokka bit his lip and schooled his face into a mask of determination. Squaring his shoulders and lifting his chin. He had to stay in control. His mind kept flashing back to the day his mom died. Feeling the air of death that would lay heavy and stifling on every item in the room. He could feel it here too.

“I talked with Suki and Chit Sang; they said we’re only about an hour out now.” Sokka set his jaw and ignored the heavy weight in his chest, “Katara will help him. She’s a really strong healer, she’ll help.” He didn’t realize how obvious it was that he seemed to be reassuring himself more so than his father.

“She will be able to save him. Don’t worry.”

“Yeah. . .yeah. So long as she doesn’t still hate his guts.”

Hakoda blinked.

-0-0-0-0-0-

“. . .Would you take some constructive criticism?”

“No.”

Toph snorted at the waterbender and reclined back on her elbows, kicking her feet aimlessly, “Alright. Just don’t come crying to me when you end up accidentally killing all of us ‘cause you don’t know how to make a stew.”

Katara whirled on her, almost knocking over the cooking pot that was hanging over the fire, “I _do_ know how to make a stew!”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yes, I do!”

“Fiiiiine. An _edible_ stew then.”

“Ughhh! You are so frustrating!” Katara crossed her arms in frustration. As if she didn’t have enough to worry about with her idiot brother being gone for days on a fishing trip with a firebending traitor, now she had to deal with Toph being picky. “If you think you know so much about cooking then why don’t you come over here and make lunch yourself!”

Toph smirked, “Oh no Sugar Queen. See, I actually acknowledge my limitations. Unlike some people. . .”

“Why you little-“

“TOPH! KATARA! COME QUICK!”

Katara stopped and whipped her head over to see Aang darting back around the corner, the flash of orange flapping behind him as he ran back to one of the open balconies. Toph and Katara looked back at each other, all animosity is forgotten before they bolted after him.

Their feet pounded solidly on the stone floors as they wound their way to the open alcove. Something was wrong. Clearly, something was wrong. Katara could hear her heart hammering in her chest at the possibilities. Her mind went a thousand miles an hour: Please don’t be Sokka, please don’t be Sokka, don’t let him be hurt. . .

-Oh.

“Katara! Thank Tui. Katara you need to help him, please! He’s been poisoned and he’s—he’s. . .”

The sight before her was quite shocking, to say the least, and it took a few seconds pause to take it all in.

Docked at the balcony was a huge Fire Nation airship. It’s emblem flew freely in the wind and made Katara think of the deep red blood that flows from a cut artery. The airship’s plank was lowered and the first person to stumble out was. . .Sokka? What was he doing in an airship- And why was Prince Zuko unconscious and being held in his arms? The Prince looked terrible too. He was pale as an ivory stone and cold sweat drenched his frame. He was shaking and moaning weakly and there was blood smeared in strange places and bruises on his skin. . .what the hell had happened?

Before she could take a step towards them, however, she noticed who was following behind them. The sight of her father, abrupt and totally unforeseen, made her brain stall for a moment, unable to process. He looked. . . fine. A few scrapes and bruises, like he’d been in a fight or something, but otherwise, he was _fine_. She momentarily noticed Suki and some other stranger before turning back to stare at her father.

He was okay. He was okay and he was alive and he was _free_.

“. . .Dad?”

Her father swept past Sokka to gather her in his arms tightly. His warm embrace felt like home. Home in a place so very very far from home. She felt an undeniable relief. All the heavy weight of needing to protect everyone felt lighter in her father’s arms. She sniffed away a tear.

“Katara, I’m so glad to see you’re safe.” Her father whispered before pulling away quickly, “But right now, we need you to heal Zuko, he’s not doing well.” Katara decided to not ponder the term ‘we’ as she finally glanced back to Sokka and, namely, the boy that Sokka was currently cradling.

She felt time snap back at a rapid pace.

Katara quickly went over to Sokka as he laid Zuko carefully on the ground near the fountain. Sokka looked okay, asides from the fear in his red eyes and the shaking in his hands.

“Please, Katara. . .I-I think he’s dying.” The last part came out so quietly that Katara could barely make it out over the din of everyone else talking at once.

She finally looked back down at Zuko.

 _Prince_ Zuko, she reminded herself. The boy looked to be in terrible shape and in the back of her mind she knew that Sokka’s assessment probably wasn’t that far off. She felt the familiar anger well up in her stomach at the sight of him. The need to hate him because she needed someone to take the blame for everything. Someone she could yell out her frustrations at. Someone she could be angry and hurt at and be justified for it. Her one point of clarity and control.

She stilled at the sound of his groan and watched carefully at the scrunch of pain in his face.

Katara glanced back up to Sokka’s panicked eyes and then looked down at Zuko. Maybe things weren’t as clear as she wanted them to be.

She reached out tentatively towards Zuko, pausing in hesitance.

“Katara, please!”

She set her jaw in a decision.

She wanted to be a healer and a defender. Not someone who fueled their decisions by hate.

Sokka watched in shock as Katara started to lift Zuko up, Sokka quickly jumping in to assist. He almost wept tears of joy as Katara motioned him to lay him in the fountain’s water. He hadn’t been sure that she would actually-

But she did.

Sokka watched in morbid fascination as she made the water glow and shiver under her touch. Her healing was so smooth, so elegant that it could almost make a person forget the dire reason that it was needed at all. He clutched Zuko’s submerged hand tighter and prayed.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

_“All hail Fire Lord Zuko!”_

_Zuko turned around to find himself on the steps of the palace, overlooking a large crowd of fire nation citizens. They cheered and shouted, singing his praises from the positions far below him. Kites flew in the sky and banners were held high._

_He felt himself smiling down at his people._

_They were so happy. So healthy. The weight of the war was gone from their eyes and they had the life of fire in their souls. It was a beautiful sight and he felt honored to be able to lead them. As the cheers continued, he waved back to them with a broad smile on his face._

_“Zuko, Zuko, Zuko.”_

_His smile fell._

_He watched in horror as his father walked up to stand beside him, eyes scanning the crowd in contempt._

_“Do you really believe that this is what would be waiting for you if you won?” He crossed his arms and looked over to glare at Zuko, “You think they would welcome you home with open arms?” He spat at his feet, “You’re a traitor to your nation and have no idea how to lead these people.”_

_Zuko watched in horror and despair was the below him began to change. Like a fog lifting off of the scene._

_The people’s smiles were replaced by angry faces and dead eyes. Their stance became bowed over and crippled. Their clothes were worn and in tatters on their skinny shoulders. The children's laughter was replaced by screaming, and all around him were flames of destruction._

_“Now that is more accurate.” Ozai gestured towards the rioting mob with his arms wide. “This! This is what you will create if you ever took the throne! A mindless, starving, homeless group of broken people. A people you would destroy and fail.”_

_Zuko blinked back his tears, scanning the crowd and seeing nothing but hate in the eyes of his people. Hate and pain._

_Their screams became louder to the point of being deafening. They were crying out for help, for leadership. They were begging him to let Ozai rule in his stead. He swallowed and took a step back._

_“I-“_

_He knew that this wasn’t real. He knew that. He knew his father was just trying to manipulate him. But he still stared at the hoards of his nation and wept. He didn’t know if he was good enough for his people. He had certainly never been good enough in the past._

_But then, just as he felt he might drown under the weight of his failures, he saw spotted a familiar face. Far off behind the crowd. They were smiling at him. Like- like they were proud of him. Proud of what he would become._

_“Uncle. . .”_

_Zuko straightened his shoulders and turned to face his father head-on._

_“No.”_

_Ozai glance over in confusion, “No?”_

_“No._ When _I become Fire Lord, I won’t let this happen.” He drew himself up to his full height and his eyes filled with ingrained authority, “I have made mistakes in the past, yes. And I will make mistakes in the future. But I will not fail as Fire Lord, I will not fail as their ruler. Do you want to know why?”_

_Ozai took a menacing step forward and growled fiercely. Zuko shook his head firmly and refused to flinch. He swept an arching wall of fire around them, enclosing both him and his father in a prison of flames._

_“I will not fail because I have learned from my mistakes. Because I am not too proud or too blinded by power to address my own weaknesses. Because I am willing to learn and to grow. Because I will put the needs of my people above my own, every time.” He stared through the flames to look at Iroh and saw a few other familiar faces joining him in support, “I will not fail because I have people that love me and care for me. They are the ones that make me strong. Not some egotistical, maniac-driven, power-trip that demands I burn the world. I am not you. And I will never be you.”_

_Zuko dispersed the flames and looked back to the crowd. Their faces were smiling once again._

_“I will bring peace where you have brought war. I will rule with compassion instead of fear. I will heal my nation of the scar you have tainted it with.”_

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Sokka watched silently as Katara continued moving the water in its quiet rhythm. Back and forth. Push and Pull. Like Tui and La were guiding her hands. He sighed and laid his head on the edge of the fountain, still holding tight to Zuko’s cold hand.

Katara had been healing Zuko for hours now, and the panic of their abrupt entrance was beginning to wash away. The others were quietly eating dinner around a campfire that Aang had set up a few meters away from the fountain. Hakoda had finally left Sokka’s side at the call of a ready meal and Sokka’s urging to go. His father kept throwing him and Zuko the occasional worried look, but they both knew that the worst had now passed.

Zuko was. . . still unconscious. But he was doing better. Katara extracted all the poison about an hour ago and had dramatically thrown the ball of black liquid over the side of the balcony. She had double-checked her work, discovered a couple last drops, and disposed of those as well. Now, finally being satisfied at the poison’s complete absence, she was healing his other injuries and combating the poison’s long-lasting effects.

The prince’s skin looked less translucent, and his fever had finally dropped back down to almost normal. He was hardly shaking, and the moaning had quieted down to small sighs of discomfort.

Overall, Zuko was doing amazing.

And Sokka was a giant ball of nerves.

He absently brushed his fingers along Zuko’s scrapped knuckles, staring at the old scars that lined his hands.

Sokka truly didn’t understand what was going on between them. Sokka had hated Zuko in the past, and rightfully so, but then he had joined their group and Sokka had been suspicious. He had also been completely struck with how _different_ the young man was.

Where before Zuko had been angry, now he was awkward. Where there had been a raging temper, now there was patience and humility.

Sokka had been completely surprised by this new Zuko. This changed version of the Fire Prince. He. . . he was nice. And honestly kinda cute. And sure he still had a temper, but he was controlling it and clearly trying to do better. It was. . .admirable. And Sokka had begun to respect him for it.

Then boiling rock had happened and now his feelings towards Zuko had gone so far past respect that it wasn’t even calculatable. Sokka _cared_ about Zuko. He didn’t understand where it that had come from but all Sokka knew was that he couldn’t lose him.

Perhaps. . .perhaps later Sokka would figure out what was growing between the two of them. And _why_. But for now, Sokka just knew that he needed to be here.

“So. . .”

Sokka looked over at Katara. Oh no. She had that meddling look on her face. Sokka raised an eyebrow in suspicion. “So what?”

A smirk tugged at her lips, “So, when did _this_ happen?”

Sokka groaned and dropped his head back against the fountain.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

It wasn’t until about an hour later that Zuko finally started to stir.

Sokka was so surprised and relieved that he let out a loud whoop of joy at the sight of Zuko’s eyelids fluttering. He was pretty sure he gave his father a minor heart attack since the man had been in the process of quietly sitting down next to him at the time when Sokka jumped to his feet with the yell.

“Zuko?”

“Mmmgh.”

“Zuko? Can you hear me? I need you to wake up now. You’re like wayyyy past the normal napping length by this point.”

Hakoda chuckled and shook his head, him and Katara sharing a look.

“I th’nk I earn’d uh pass. . . “

All three of them looked over down at Zuko to see his exhausted grin spread slowly on his face.

“ZUKO!” Sokka pounced on the half-submerged boy, pulling him into a sopping wet hug, “I was so worried! You were hallucinating, and screaming, and at one point there was blood coming from your eyes, and then you started having seizures! And sometimes you would be awake, and sometimes you would be totally out of it, and by the time we got here, you were _dying_. And we didn’t know if you would make it or if Katara would even heal you but now you’re awake and Katara said you’re going to be alright now and-“

“Sokka?”

“Yeah?” Sokka gasped for breath.

“Are you hurt?”

Sokka stared at the other boy and blinked. “Wha-? YES, I’m okay! I’m not the one who almost just DIED from POISON!!”Sokka smacked Zuko’s arm in annoyance, “And if you _ever_ do something stupid again like volunteering to come with me to a prison where the Warden has a personal vendetta against you and wants to TORTURE YOU, then I will personally chuck you off the edge of this upside-down temple-thing!”

Zuko looked shocked for a moment before schooling his features and grinning wickedly, “No you won’t.”

“Yes! Yes, I will! One more reckless act out of you and off the side you go!”

Hakoda snorted.

“Uh-huh, sure.” Zuko nodded sagely, accepting Katara’s help to step out of the fountain, then shivering slightly as she waterbended the water out of his clothes.

“I’m serious, Zuko. You scared the life out of me.” Sokka’s voice cracked slightly.

Zuko took pity on the wide-eyed Water Tribe boy and pulled him into another hug. “I’m sorry I scared you, Sokka.”

“You better be.” Was the muffled reply. “Just lost like ten years in three days.” Zuko hummed in agreement and rubbed Sokka’s back before pulling away.

Both boys suddenly became conscious that they had Katara and Hakoda as an audience and both blushed deeply. “I uh, I could really go for some food, if uh, if we have any. . .please?”

Hakoda finally took pity on the blushing boys and started guiding them and Katara towards the campfire, “Come on boys, there’s still some stew leftover from dinner.”

Sokka squinted as he sat down in front of the fire, protectively pulling Zuko to sit down next to him, “Is it Katara’s stew though?”

“AGAIN?! SERIOUSLY?! Now look here you little-“

Zuko smiled softly to himself as he listened to Katara and Sokka continue bickering as the food was passed to them.

He felt his exhaustion start to catch up with him as Toph and Aang jumped into the conversation, each taking sides on the opinion of Katara’s cooking. It was almost soothing, listening to the hum of their passionate voices.

They may have sounded angry, but no matter what, they obviously still loved and cared for each other. And as Zuko felt Sokka’s arm sneak around his waist to let him lean against the other boy fully, he realized that he may just be part of this group after all.

He glanced up and caught Hakoda looking at him and Sokka fondly from across the fire. When Hakoda realized that he’d been caught staring, he just smiled and nodded to Zuko before turning back to the conversation.

See a father act like. . . well, a _father ,_ was still throwing Zuko off. But he’d worry about that later.

For now, he leaned his head on Sokka’s shoulder, closing his eyes in obedience to the waves of exhaustion that were pulling harder at him now.

He knew that his hallucinations had been created by the poison, but he also knew that the fears that they address were no such fabrication. One day he would have to lead his people, and he prayed to Agni that he really did have the strength to do it well.

But it would be a long time before that would happen, and so much could happen to them before that time. Zuko probably would not even be the same person as he was now.

But that was the future.

For now, Zuko simply snuggled in closer to Sokka and let himself fall into a deep sleep. Not a single nightmare in sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Umm, so. . . *laughs nervously*. . . Sequel?
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading my story, I hoped you all liked it! Also thank you for all the comments on the past chapters, it's really nice to get feedback and especially nice to find out that other people are enjoying this story as well. I hope you have a great day!


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